LGBT Fiction

The Key West Kid

Growing up in Key West, the gay capital of the South, Danny was open-minded enough to try anything once. He had heard through the grapevine that any guy who made it with another guy poolside at Robbie Burns’ place was socially entitled to get and wear a puka shell necklace. He had made it his personal goal to get one of the treasured adornments this year, and Danny was nothing if not determined, but his visit to the Burns residence is an eye-opener in more ways than he had anticipated.

Excerpt:
Sounds of a game of water baseball came to his ears which indicated that the older boys were accepting Danny into their coterie, and Robbie had to admit that Danny had the equipment to make him popular and a sought-after partner. He sat down in front of his computer monitor, but he wasn’t thinking of work. His mind had flashed back to Danny Robinson, now known as Danny Robinson, Sr. He picked up the phone and dialed the number he had been given. Three-four-five rings and then a familiar voice saying “Hello.”

He hung up immediately. The voice was so bass, so gentle, so reminiscent of the nights they had spent together promising to love each other forever, and then the one night when Danny called off their affair with the news that he had gotten a girl pregnant from a one night experience on the other side, and felt it was his responsibility to marry her. Robbie had been cut off quicker than a newly born puppy dog’s tail. And yet he remembered all the love he had given the man, the love he had searched for again for fifteen years – in college and in all the gay bars he frequented, all the men he had been with, but none ever sparked the feelings he once had for Daniel Robinson, Sr. All the one night stands and the few that extended to week-long attempts at finding romance were all in vain. He had basically given up finding Mr. Right.

He got up and made a sandwich and turned on the radio station, doing anything to get his mind off the memory of Danny and his body – the firm abdomen, the smiles he always gave, and his voice, that mellifluous, sexy, oh so sexy voice. Nothing worked, however, at diverting his mind. Memories of what had been kept flooding back. No matter where he looked in the house, there was a reawakened memory of what he and Danny had done or said in every spot – the kitchen, the patio, the living room sofa, the floor in front of the fake fireplace. Memories that had been buried deep in his subconscious cascaded over him.

Finally, he redialed the number and waited patiently for an answer.

“Hello.” There was that sexy voice again.

“Hi, Danny. This is Robbie Burns.”

There was an interminable pause. “Hi,” the deep bass voice finally said.

“I was wondering if you might be free and feel like making the drive over. I’d like to see you.”

“You want to see me? After what I did to you? How I betrayed you?” the voice asked incredulously.